Part 2 «Reading»

Task 1

Read the passage about Lake Vostok. There are seven words with a letter and anasterisk (*) beside them. This symbol is used in scientific texts to provideexplanations for non-scientific readers. Match each explanation below (1–7) with thecorrect letter A–G from the passage.

*_____An inspection or investigation of an area, often used for making maps.

*_____Causing harmful effect and damaging the purity of something.

*_____A machine that is automatically programmed to perform a number of tasks, often dangerous or boring ones.

*_____A way of using radio signals on a screen to look at things that cannot normally be seen.

*___Very small organisms that live in the air, water, soil, plants and animals.

*_____A settlement in a distant part of a country, used for trading, military or scientific purposes.

*_____A tool or machine used to make holes in something

Lake Vostok lies about 1,500 kilometres east of the South Pole, near Russia’s Vostok station, a scientific outpost* (A) that has experienced the lowest temperatures ever recorded on Earth: minus 89.2̊ C.

What is unique about this lake is that nobody has ever set foot on its shores. Like the oceans of the planet Jupiter’s moon Europa, it is completely covered by ice.

The first person to realise the existence of Lake Vostok was the Russian geographer, Andrei Kapitsa. While flying over this frozen region in 1960, he noticed an unusually flat area and thought there might be a lake under the ice. However, his suggestions were not taken seriously at the time and it was only after a British-led survey* (B) used radar* (C), that it became clear that there was water there.

Lake Vostok’s ice covering is 4 kilometres thick, its water is up to 500 metres deep and it has been completely covered in this way for at least one million years. In 1988 special hot-water drills* (D) were used to get through the ice to within 120 metres of the lake. Work then stopped to avoid pollution* (E). Samples were taken from the ice and found to contain living bacteria* (F) and even some grains.

Scientists now want to send a robot*(G) down to explore and search for signs of life. If life can exist in this lake covered by ice, maybe it can also exist in the icecovered oceans of Jupiter’s moon.

Now choose the best way a–d of completing each sentence 8–10 according to the information in the passage.

8. What makes Lake Vostok different from other lakes is that it is

a) so near the South Pole.

b) on Jupiter’s moon, Europa.

c) being explored by robots.

d) completely covered by ice.

9. Nobody has yet got through to the waters of the lake because

a) the ice is too thick.

b) they are afraid of polluting it.

c) they are worried about disease from the bacteria.

d) you can only see the lake on radar.

10. Lake Vostok could be a very important scientific discovery as it could show

a) how life can survive in extreme conditions.

b) how long Earth has existed.

c) how robots work.

d) how scientists write reports on their discoveries.

Task 2

Read the text and then match the beginnings 11–20 with the endings A–L according to the text. There are two extra endings.

You’re Welcome

Bill Bryson, an American writer who had lived in Britain for ten years, returned to the USA to rediscover his homeland. He borrowed his mother’s old Chevrolet and drove 13,978 miles through 38 states, keeping mainly to side roads and small towns. This is Bryson’s description of a meal in a town called Littleton in New Hampshire.

It was the friendliest little place I had ever seen. I went into the Topic of the Town restaurant. The other customers smiled at me, the lady at the cash register showed me where to put my jacket, and the waitress, a plump little lady, couldn’t do enough for me.

She brought me a menu and I made the mistake of saying thank you. “You’re welcome,” she said. Once you start this there’s no stopping. She came and wiped the table with a damp cloth. “Thank you,” I said. “You’re welcome,” she said. She brought me some cutlery wrapped in a paper napkin. I hesitated but I couldn’t stop myself. “Thank you,” I said. “You’re welcome,” she said.

I ordered the fried chicken special. As I waited I became uncomfortably aware that the people at the next table were watching me and smiling at me in a slightly crazy way. The waitress was watching me too. Every few minutes she came over and asked if everything was all right. Then she filled my glass with iced water and told me my food would only be a minute.

“Thank you,” I said.

“You’re welcome,” she said.

Finally the waitress came out of the kitchen with a tray the size of a table-top and started putting plates of food in front of me – soup, a salad, a plate of chicken, a basket of hot bread rolls. It all looked delicious. Suddenly I realized I was starving.

The waitress wanted to know if she could get me anything else.

“No, this is just fine, thank you.” I answered with my knife and fork ready to attack the food.

“Would you like some ketchup?”

“No, thank you.”

“Would you like some more dressing for your salad?”

“No, thank you.”

“Have you got enough gravy?”

There was enough gravy to drown a horse. “Yes, plenty of gravy, thank you.”

“How about a cup of coffee?”

“Really I’m fine.”

“You’re sure there’s nothing I can do for you?”

“Well, you might just push off and let me eat my dinner,” I wanted to say, but I didn’t of course. I just smiled sweetly and said no thank you.

Task 2

For questions 9–35, read the text below. Open the brackets and use the right form of the verb. There is an example at the beginning (0).

Isaac Newton (0 – so interest)_was so interested__ in different problems that he became quite absent-minded. One day a gentleman (9 – come) _______________ to see him, but he (10 – tell) _______________ that Isaak Newton was busy in his study and that nobody (11 – allow) _______________ to disturb him.

in the dining room (14 – wait) for the scientist. The servant came in and (15 – place) _______________ on the table a boiled chicken under a cover. An hour (16 – pass) _______________ but Newton (17 – not appear) _______________. The gentleman (18 – feel) _______________ really hungry. After he (19 – eat) _______________ the chicken, he (20 – cover) _______________ up the skeleton. He (21 – ask) _______________ the servant to prepare another one for his master. Before the second chicken (22 – cook) _______________, however, the scientist (23 – enter) _______________ the room and (24 – apologize) _______________ for his delay. Then he added, “As I (25 – feel) _______________ rather tired and hungry, I (26 – hope) _______________ you (27 – excuse) _______________ me a little longer, while I (28 – take) _______________ my dinner, then I (29 – be) _______________ at your service.” With these words he (30 – lift) _______________ the cover, and without emotion (31 – turn) _______________ round to the gentleman and (32 – say) _____________, “See how strange scientists (33 – be) _____________. I quite (34 – forget) that I (35 – dine) _______________ already.”

Part 4 «Writing»

At your Literature lessons, you’ve learnt a lot about legends and myths of ancient Russia. Imagine you are preparing a school conference project on the topic “Legends of our Motherland Influence our Character Greatly”. Write a few paragraphs to your teacher to give her/him general information about your work.

Remember:

to explain your choice of the topic

to describe your favourite legend

to prove that legends are important in building our character and give an example (from literature or your personal experience) that people get a lesson from legends

Audioscript

Look at Part 1. Listen to the text and mark the sentences 1–10 T (True) , F (False) or NS (Not Stated).

You will hear the text twice.

You have 30 seconds to look at the questions.

(Pause 30 seconds)

Now we are ready to start.

Tea was introduced to Russia in 1640 when the Russian ambassador boyarin Vasily Starkov returned from the Mongol horde and brought a gift of 200 tea packages, 500 grammes each, to tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov. It was praised for its medicinal powers and ability to refresh and to purify the blood. Starkov himself didn’t like the taste of the drink but he feared the tsar’s anger and brought it to court. There are different legends about the way Romanov felt about the exotic foreign drink. One of them claims the tsar liked it and exclaimed ‘More!’ But many historians hold the opposite opinion because tea trade did not start in Moscow until 36 years later.

The next shipment of tea arrived from China. In 1679 Russia and China signed a special tea treaty. In the beginning tea was very expensive and only rich people could afford it. Also very few people knew the secrets of its brewing.

But very soon tea had become very popular, and now Russians could not imagine their lives without it. It was also noted that tea would keep one awake during a long church service.

By the 18th century, tea was part and parcel of Russian life and had become very much a national drink. Family affairs were settled around the tea table. Asking one to sit down to tea became a traditional sign of hospitality. Tradition demanded that the water be boiled in a samovar if possible. Russian tea is served with a lump of sugar and lemon, along with various jams and preserves, honey and Russian cookies or pies. People in the West even call tea served with lemon Russian tea.